New secondary free school announced for East Kettering
The Department for Education (DfE) today announced that Hanwood Park School, a new 11-16 school, has been approved to open in the Hanwood Park area of the East Kettering Strategic Urban Extension development. The proposal received substantial support from parents and the local community during the application consultation phase. The new school, which is being set up by Southfield School for Girls, is due to open from 2024. Hanwood Park School was one of only 21 applications approved nationally this year. Moreover, it was one of only three coming from a single academy trust. It joins the latest wave of primary, secondary and all-through schools to be approved to open, joining more than 550 already open and over 220 in the pipeline nationally.
Hanwood Park School will offer parents a further option and help to ensure that there are sufficient secondary school places in the area. The school will provide its students with an inspirational learning environment and a distinctive place to learn and grow. The shared values of Exploration, Belief and Integrity will underpin the ethos of the school community. The vision is to create and sustain a truly world class school. The highest academic, personal and social standards will be expected in order to deliver exceptional outcomes for every student through a collective drive for excellence. The philosophy at the heart of the school places equal value on the academic and enriched curriculum to nurture positive learning behaviours and life-long health and well-being habits in every student. Moreover, the school will play an active part in the emerging new local community while embracing strong links beyond. Southfield School for Girls will closely align to the school through a variety of reciprocal links. This will include opportunities for collaborative learning and a progression route to the mixed-gender Sixth Form at Southfield.
Steph Roberts, Headteacher at Southfield School who has spearheaded the Hanwood Park School project team, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have been given approval from the DfE to move forward with Hanwood Park School to the pre-opening phase. This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to carefully construct an exceptional new school for our community following the extensive planning that shaped the proposal. We would like to thank parents and representatives from the local community for their support during the consultation phase of the application. We are grateful to the DfE, New Schools Network, Northamptonshire County Council and Kettering Borough Council for their guidance and encouragement throughout the process to date. Our highly experienced and dedicated team are committed to deliver this exceptional school by working constructively with all stakeholders during the pre-opening phase. We are tremendously excited about what this school represents, and will provide, through the positive relationships that will be forged between the school, students, parents and the community.”
Unity Howard, Director of New Schools Network, said:
“This is fantastic news for the local community. Free schools have an incredible track record of driving up standards as the highest performing type of state school, and we have seen over the past decade just how popular free schools are with parents.
“The team behind Hanwood Park School should be proud today; the free school application process is rightly demanding, and I pay tribute to them for their tireless work throughout the application phase. I wish them the very best of luck as they begin working towards welcoming children through the doors of their new school in the years to come, and look forward to supporting them as they prepare to open.”
Further details and the dates of public meetings for parents and members of the local community, interested in finding out more about the proposed school, will be released in due course.